"Refusing to Handle You"

"Richard Kaplan" wrote in message
news:1121727600.b3bc3a1423b9b3b0f6d273c7323e0e2a@t eranews...

Overall I think I agree with the points you are making except I just do
not think it is reasonable for ATC to say "Potomac refuses to work you"
when they just issued a clearance through that airspace 10 minutes ago.
If Potomac never works through flights then do not issue clearances -- it
is one thing if the clearance were issued 500 miles away but a flight
departing HGR ought to be processed in a way that knows if Potomac will
accept through clearances.


Okay. Fine. The center controller was wrong to issue the requested
routing. He should have told the pilot the only way he could go IFR was via
the preferential routing. Damn him for trying to do the pilot a favor!

The point you have to understand is that once Potomac approach says they
can't accept your flight the only way you're going through that airspace is
contrary to ATC instructions.



And therein lies the issue here... legal or not, safe or not, is just
seems absolutely poor service for a sector to flat-out "refuse" an
airplane with no explanation right after takeoff. I think at the minimum
some better explanation should be given to the pilot to understand what
his happening and let him propose an alternate plan to ATC.


Well, that's essentially what the controller did when he said "state
intentions", he invited the pilot to propose an alternate plan to ATC.



The fact that ATC said "State intentions" rather than offer a re-route
suggests ATC was surprised by this as well.


Perhaps, but there's still no excuse for your suggested response.



And most important of all, I suspect this may have been a subtle
suggestion to the IFR pilot to cancel and go VFR and I think that is
particularly disappointing and frankly unacceptable.


Canceling IFR and proceeding VFR is one possible solution but is in no way
suggested by "state intentions". The controller just wants to know what you
want to do given that you're not going to be continuing on your current
clearance. So tell him. About half the people participating in this
discussion seem to be under the impression that they must immediately
respond with a route that avoids the weather and Potomac approach. That's
not the case at all. The controller's expecting a response like, "I'd like
routing around Potomac approach clear of the weather", or "I'd like routing
around the weather", etc., etc., etc. Soliciting your input prior to
issuing a new clearance saves time.



"State Intentions" usually occurs only when ATC has no clue what you want
to do


That's exactly how it was used here.